Plan to split California?!

Billionaire Timothy Draper, who originally floated a plan to divide the partition California into six separate states in 2014, has revised that plan with one that would see the state divide into three: Northern California, Southern California, and a new California.

Draper announced Thursday that the Cal 3 petition received „an unprecedented show of support“ with more than 600,000 signatures from across the state. By California law, 365,880 signatures were required to qualify the initiative for a vote.

The Cal 3 website details the demographics of the proposed states:

Northern California would include 40 counties ranging from the bay area to the Oregon border. It would hold a population of 13.3 million people with a median income of $63,000.

Southern California would include 12 counties, including Kern. It would range from Fresno to the Mexico border, maintaining a coastal presence of San Diego county. The median income of that area is listed as $45,000.

The smallest of the three states, simply referred to as California, would be composed of what is currently known as the central coast and Los Angeles, with a median income of $53,000.

Even if the placed on November’s ballot, splitting California into three states would require congressional approval.